Number 8

Diigo, Powerpoint, and Professional Development


I have been working with Diigo for a couple months now. On Diigo, you can post various articles and resources, and the people in your group can comment on them, make changes, highlight, et cetera. I haven't really learned any new skills on Diigo, since I have only reposted and commented on articles, which is nothing new in the educational world. I do think this website could have a place in my future professional environment. You could make a group of co-teachers, and it would be a great place to share articles about policy, teaching resources, or even lesson plans from C-Palms. Your co teachers could comment on pieces of the resources or lesson plans they like, discuss what would work best, and suggest new websites. I think it is possible to use, but you and your colleagues would just have to cut out time to use Diigo.

As teachers, we use all kinds of technology to help students understand material. PowerPoint is an age old program that I think every teacher has used at least once. How can you use PowerPoint with Bloom's Taxonomy?

Create: Students could create their own PowerPoint to teach their classmates about an important historical person or landmark

Evaluate: After a lecture, PowerPoint could be used to pose a critical thinking discussion.

Analyze: In a science class, PowerPoint could be used to display data in the form of tables, pictures, or 3D images. Students would work together to draw conclusions.

Apply: Teacher could create an assessment or scenario on PowerPoint that needs solving/an answer. Students could respond using white boards or clickers.

Understand: This is where the typical use for PowerPoint comes in. Teacher could use PowerPoint to present the topic in lecture form, while expanding on the content and using visuals.

Remember: My favorite form of PowerPoint in the classroom comes to life through a classic game of Jeopardy. Jeopardy requires students to recall information in a fun (and often rowdy) way.


Finally, old technology in the classroom has its place, but what about all the new technology? How do you keep up with it all, and know that you are giving your students the best chance to succeed?
Luckily, in 2018, there are tons of websites focused on the world of education. Many of these websites post about classroom trends. One I have picked to share with you is called Edsy. Edsy creates software for classrooms, so I figured that an educational-tech company would have up to date opinions on what everyone is using. 

Edsy

They even have an article for 2018, that talks about updated Doc Cams and communication devices. On their blog page, they have various articles surrounding technologies in the classroom, education in general, and tips for parents confused about media trends. I thought this was an interesting website and something different than Ed Weekly or Education.com.